Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-10-05
HORSEMANSHIP.

Saddles are almost as various IN
form and structure as the races Of
men who use horses, and so are styles
of riding, and the man who dogma
tizes about his own saddle and style
runs the risk of being brought to
shame. Nothing, for instance, can diff
fer more from a cowboys seatand sad
die than a Cossack's or Turcoman's.
The cowboy sits straight-legged on
his fork, in what is called "tongs on
a wall" fashion, in a high-peaked
saddle, with his toes stuck out. The
Cossack or Turcoman sits as fat as II
he were in a chair, his legs forming
a right angle at the knee and his feet
exactly parallel with the horses
side. All three are superb riders,
whether it be for sticking on, or
getting over rough ground, or max
ing long marches, or fighting, or run
ming away. If you argued with a
Turcoman that he ought not to sit in
a flat saddle with such short stirrups,
but get a Whatman and stick his
legs out, like Capt. Goldman, he would
not laugh, because that is not his
style, but he would inwardly set you
down as an idiot, besides being an
infdel.
There is also much nonsense talked
about the propriety or improperly
of rising or "bobbing up and down"
in the saddle during the trot when
making a journey, and occasionally
a "True American" writes to the
newspapers some sad drivel on the
subject as a protest against the An
glomaniac dudes who bob up and
down on banged horses in the park.
On this subject, Capt. Goldman, too.
appears to have been led astray. If
you use an English saddle, it is sim
ply cruelty to the horse to rise in
trotting on a long ride, especially In
the case of a heavy weight. In an
English saddle the rider sits we'll
behind his stirrups, which are rath-
er short, a fashion approaching close
ly to the Asiatic seat, and If he tries
to sit close during the trot he strikes
the horse catapultic blow at every
stride in the tenderest portion OF the
animals back. When he rises, on
the contrary, he decends gently, and
he keeps his weight steady on the
horse by throwing It into his stirrups
when his hinder parts are in the air.
The principle of the thing is in fact
illustrated by the Jockeys practice
of standidg in his stirrups during 4
race, and the Cossacks or Arabs du-
ring q charge. In both cases what Is
sought, is to avoid pounding the horse
with a 150-pound mallet when the
poor animal is trying to move in q
regular trot or gallop.
In a military, or Mexican, or
Whitman saddle, the circumstances
are wholly different. The rider al
most stands straight-legged in his
stirrups when the horse is trotting
and keeps his weight on them and
at the same time accommodates him.
self to the horses motion by an up
and-down spring of the foot. In 9TH
er words, he has no occasion to rise,
and does not come down on the horse
with a bang. There is probably
nothing about which wide observa-
tion is more necessary to make peo-
pie talk sensibly than about horse
manship. Every nation which rides
in the saddle has its own system,
and for that nation it's own brides,
saddles, bits and seats are the best
in the world. The man who sets
about disputing this runs great risk,
as we have said, in being brought to
shame.